Welch: Liquor store owner learns customers' favorites

One of Amarillo's newest retailers might have something to help you ward off a January chill.

Lone Star Liquors now operates from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday at 1921 S. Washington St., one block south of Interstate 40.

Owner Janie Vick has begun learning the tastes of the customers who've found the place.

"Vodka and whiskey are big in this neighborhood," Vick said. "We're taking requests. If we don't have something, we'll get it. We've been adding every week."

If you're trying to place the store in your mental GPS, think Wagner's Photography. The photo studio occupied the building for many years before relocating last year to 3801 Wolflin Ave., across from Tascosa High School.

The new retailer is listed as Lonestar Liquor Store on Facebook. The contact number is 806-367-8819.

Just realized I have two legs of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in this column: Alcohol, above, and now, firearms.

Amarillo Rifle & Pistol Club has completed $40,000 in safety improvements. The club on North Western Street, a couple of miles north of Loop 335, installed open-ended concrete corridors between shooters and their targets as a safety measure.

"Basically, they're big concrete tubes," said Jeff Tormey, vice president of the club's board of directors. "Once you've got the bullet traveling in that direction, it's not going to move. It's going to go on a straight path."

The club added the 8-foot-long tubes after testing plywood versions with its members, Tormey said. Facilities at the 40-acre site include two rifle ranges, three outdoor pistol ranges a 25-yard indoor range and a classroom.

According to its website, the club operated in the basement of an unfinished hotel located in downtown Amarillo from 1936 to 1941 before moving to its present location.

Membership costs $100 per year, Tormey said.

York Tire Co. also got its start in the mid-1930s in Amarillo.

The company, which owns stores in service centers in Amarillo, Lubbock, Midland-Odessa, Clovis, N.M., and Garden City, Kan., recently branched out again.

C.T. Echols, Renee York and Elaine Albers joined forces to own and open York Tire Retail, sort of like a franchise of the main company, at 7500 S.W. 45th Ave., west of Coulter Street.

Echols, once manager of York Tire at 714 S.E. 10th Ave., moved west to manage the new store.

York Tire Retail handles tire, front-end, brake and suspension work, as well as alignments and oil changes for passenger cars and light trucks, Echols said.

Fanelli's Finest doesn't have the long roots of York Tire, but it's looking for that success. And an opportunity provided by the West Texas A&M University Enterprise Center's Culinary Coop has lately added to a solid start for Fanelli's, which makes lasagna sauce.

Since Wednesday, Fanelli's has been exhibiting its wares at a Dallas Gourmet Food Market booth purchased by the co-op. The young company's exposure to representatives of groceries and other retailers will continue until midweek.

"I was not born here," she said. "My English - I'm still learning every day. Ask my servers, ask my manager. I'm always asking about it.

"We need to make it fun, to let the kids enjoy reading. What do I want? I want the students to go from D to B (grades), from C to A."

So Tayama began a "Be a Nerd and Rock the Books" program in which students can earn a free children's chicken meal for reading. Some Amarillo Independent School District campuses have opted in. Details about the program are available from Kabuki or participating schools.

Teachers also are being rewarded, this time at Kushi Yama. Through May 31, the restaurant is offering a 20 percent discount, excluding alcoholic beverages and sushi, for AISD teachers and staff who present their identification badges when dining there. The discount can't be combined with other offers.

Rockwood Amish Furniture closed its showroom at 200 W. Westgate Parkway, behind Barnes & Noble, on Tuesday. The store will return when it opens soon in its new building south of Amarillo at Interstate 27 and Sundown Lane.

I'll bring you a look next week.

A hundred Whataburger restaurants, including one of the stores in Amarillo, have made the 2013 WhataGames Restaurant Semifinals. A team from Whataburger at 4111 S.W. 45th Ave. will compete in a series of elimination rounds in hopes of earning one of 21 spots at the WhataGames Finals in April at Grapevine.

The competition tests the skills of teams in three categories: operations, corporate history and customer service. The company describes the finals as three days of high-intensity competition that doles out $165,000 in cash prizes.

WhataSpectacle.

Interact with Karen Smith Welch at karen.welch@amarillo.com, facebook.com/karensmithwelch or @karen_welch on Twitter. Welch also blogs at amarillo.com.

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